The World's Best Potato Salad

Since Spud (potato) Harvest is coming up soon around these parts, I figured it would be fitting to share a potato recipe with you all today.

Since I've been married, which will be eight years this November, I've yet to impress my husband with a good potato salad. He's not normally a picky eater, and will pretty much eat anything. But, potato salad is a different story. He doesn't like it too dry. He doesn't like it too sweet. He doesn't like it with dill.... Don't get me wrong, he will eat anything I make, but he rarely compliments on my potato salads. That is until he tried this one. I first made it a couple of weeks ago to go with some ribs I had made.

I found the recipe on AllRecipes.com but of course I changed things up a bit. If you're like me you know what I mean. You take a recipe as a base and then fix it up to your likings. I'm glad I did, and I'm glad I wrote down what I did!! He loved this one and even thought it worthy to bring along to a little catering job that we did just this last weekend. And everyone that ate at the dinner we provided said it was mighty delish!

Sorry I don't have a picture of this recipe right now, but I'm sure I'll be making it again soon and I'll post a picture of it then.

The World's Best Potato Salad

6 medium Idaho Russet potatoes
1/2 small onion, finely chopped
1 cup celery, finely chopped
6 hard-boiled eggs, diced
5 slices bacon, cooked and chopped (optional)

dressing:

2 eggs
1/3 cup sugar
2 teaspoons cornstarch
1/2 cup vinegar
1 (5 oz) can evaporated milk
1 tsp. yellow mustard
1/4 cup butter
1 cup mayonnaise
1/4 cup relish
1 tsp. celery seed
1 tsp. salt (or to taste)
1/4 tsp. pepper (or to taste)

paprika for garnish

Whisk together eggs, sugar and cornstarch in a medium saucepan. Stir in vinegar, evaporated milk and mustard. Cook over medium heat, stirring frequently until thickened, this could take about 10 minutes. Remove from heat and stir in butter. Refrigerate until completely cool. Then stir in mayonnaise, relish, celery seed, salt and pepper.

Wash the potatoes, but do not peel. Place whole potatoes into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover. Bring to a boil and cook for about 20 minutes, or until easily pierced with a fork. Drain and let cool. Once cool, peel and dice into a large bowl. Add onion, celery, eggs and bacon into bowl and mix.

Stir in cooled prepared dressing with the potato mixture. Make sure everything is evenly coated. Garnish with a shake or two of paprika for color. Cover and refrigerate for at least 3 hours, but overnight is best. Serve and enjoy!

Buffalo Chicken Soup

My husband loves hot wings, like really really loves them. So, to incorporate the wonderful flavor of buffalo hot wings and a fall favorite, soup, I came up with this yummy recipe for buffalo chicken soup! It's spicy, savory and delish!! Not to mention that it's sure to keep you warm in this cold weather! My kids even loved this soup, so it's not too spicy for little ones, just a little kick! This soup can also be made in the crock pot, if your going to be out and about during the day and need dinner to be made for you when you get home. Just start it out on the stove and once you get to the part where you add the remaining ingredients, just pop it in the crock pot and let it cook all day. Probably 8 hours on low would be fine.

Buffalo Chicken Soup

1 small onion, diced
1 cup celery, diced
¼ cup butter
¼ cup flour
3 (14.5 oz) cans chicken broth
½ cup blue cheese salad dressing
4 cups cooked chicken, diced
¼ cup chicken wing sauce
8 ounces Velveeta cheese
4 small potatoes, diced
1 teaspoon garlic salt

Saute onions and celery in butter until tender. Add in flour and stir, cooking the flour for one minute. Slowly add the chicken broth, stirring well so that no lumps form. Add remaining ingredients and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the potatoes are cooked through, about half an hour. Enjoy with crusty bread!

Not Your Mama's Mashed Potatoes

Eveyone has a recipe or technique for mashed potatoes, right? But does everyone make a good mashed potato? Not always. I was talking to my mother-in-law once about how she learned how to make mashed potatoes. She said that her mom taught her to just drain the potatoes and then use some of the water from the cooking to mix in, add a bit of salt and that was it. YUCK!! I can't stand mashed potatoes like that. Thank goodness my mother-in-law doesn't make hers like that. But, her's aren't like these. And I bet these, aren't like your Mama's!

Not Your Mama's Mashed Potatoes

4 lbs. russet potatoes, peeled and diced
½ cup salted butter
8 oz. cream cheese
1/8 cup heavy cream or whole milk (or more depending on how thin you like your potatoes)
1 tablespoon salt or to taste

Place the peeled and diced potatoes into a large pot and fill with enough water to cover all of the potatoes. Add a bit of salt to the water and boil until tender. When the potatoes are soft, drain the potatoes and place in an electric mixer, adding the butter and cream cheese and mixing until smooth. Add the heavy cream or milk and salt, mix well. Serve warm with gravy of your choice and enjoy! Serves 6-8.

Chicken Stew

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My oldest son, who is four years old, recently started taking karate classes. The classes happen to be at 5:00 in the evening, which means that dinner needs to be cooking at home while we're at karate class. Thank goodness for crock pots!! I've got two crock pots that I use pretty often, and I love! This dinner was made up one day before karate class, as both a way to use up some chicken thighs that were in the fridge and a way to get dinner done and ready by the time we got home from karate. My kids ate this up and wanted more! I think they just really love good home style foods like stews, soups and casseroles. Things that fill you up and make you warm inside (not that we need to be warm in August, but you know what I'm talking about!). So if your family loves that kind of food too, they will be sure to love this chicken stew! I served mine over white rice, that I cooked when we got home from karate along with some homemade wheat bread. I hope you enjoy!

Chicken Stew

1 ½ pound boneless skinless chicken thighs, cut into bite sized pieces and seasoned with salt and pepper
1 pound russet potatoes, peeled and chunked
½ pound baby carrots
1 onion, chunked
2 cans cream of chicken soup
1 can water (use the empty soup can)
1 teaspoon poultry seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
½ cup frozen peas

Brown the chicken pieces in a large skillet that has been sprayed with cooking spray. Cook, stirring often until chicken is cooked through. Once the chicken is done cooking, place in a crock pot. Add in all ingredients except for the peas and mix well. Cook on high for 4 hours or low for 7 hours, or until the veggies are soft. Half an hour before serving, add in the peas and mix in. Continue cooking until the peas are warm, about 30 minutes. Enjoy with biscuits, rolls or over cooked rice.

Smashed Potatoes

This side dish is easy and a real crowd pleaser! I'm a huge fan of potatoes, so anything with potatoes in it I'm sure to love. Good thing we live in Idaho! My favorite part of these potatoes are the crunchy bits and pieces, not to mention the cheese! Add these to your menu for something new and different from the same old things you always make.

Smashed Potatoes

6 large red potatoes
3 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoons rosemary or dried parsley flakes
salt and pepper to taste
¼ cup Parmesan cheese or ½ cup shredded cheddar cheese
crumbled bacon (optional)

Preheat oven to 425° F.
Place potatoes in a large pot, cover with water, boil until fork tender. Drain potatoes and place on a cookie sheet that has been coated with one tablespoon olive oil. Smash each potato individually with a potato masher once by pressing potato masher down until skin breaks. Drizzle remaining olive oil over potatoes. Sprinkle rosemary or parsley flakes, salt and pepper, cheese and bacon evenly over potatoes. Place potatoes in oven at 425° for approximately 30 minutes or until crispy.

Extreme Chicken

This dinner is pretty versatile, if your kids don't like spicy things, just leave the jalapeño rings off of their plates. And, if you like more spice use spicy hot chili! If your watching your weight, use vegetarian or turkey chili, reduced fat cheese and ranch dressing, and use a baked potato instead of the tater tots. It's still going to be really yummy! This is one of those dinners that is just so easy to put together, but it tastes amazing! And what kid isn't going to love eating chili cheese tater tots with some chicken thrown in for dinner?! My kids love this dinner and always eat it all up! Just serve with a veggie (in this case we made green beans from the garden) and you are good to go!

Extreme Chicken

2 lb. bag frozen tater tots
6 small boneless skinless chicken breasts
season salt to taste
2 (15 ounce) cans chili with beans
2 cups cheddar cheese, shredded divided
prepared ranch dressing, for topping
chopped tomatoes, for topping
diced onions, for topping
jarred jalapeño rings, for topping

Cook tater tots as directed on bag. While those are cooking heat a large skillet over high heat. Spray with cooking spray and place chicken breasts that have been seasoned with season salt into skillet. Brown on each side, about 4 minutes per side or until the chicken is almost all of the way cooked through. Once the chicken is browned, open and pour the two cans of chili over the chicken breasts. Cover with a lid or with foil and cook on medium heat until chili is heated through and chicken is done cooking. Remove lid and cover everything with 1 cup of shredded cheese, place lid or foil back on until cheese is melted. To serve, place a serving size of tater tots on plate, cover with one chicken breast and some of the chili. Add extra cheese, if desired and drizzle ranch dressing on top, followed by any of the other toppings that you like. We use diced onions, chopped tomatoes and jalapeño rings. Enjoy! Serves 6.

"The Gourmet Hillbilly" Potatoes

If you love potatoes of any kind, then you'll love this recipe! It's rich and decadent and oh so good! I adapted this recipe from The Pioneer Woman, her recipes all look so delicious! I mentioned that I was making baked chicken a couple of days ago, if you want to see what I seasoned it with read this post. I baked the chicken on a foil-lined cookie sheet in the oven along with these potatoes for about 40 minutes. Bone-in chicken breasts are so much better for baking than boneless skinless. They stay tender and juicy and the best bits are the pieces that are in between the bones. I always leave the skin on while I'm cooking and then take it off when I'm eating it, this helps to keep the meat juicy too. If you don't want to leave the skin on, then pulling it off would be just fine. I hope you all make these sometime soon, you won't be sorry!

"The Gourmet Hillbilly" Potatoes

8-10 large red potatoes, cleaned and cut into small bite-sized pieces
1 small yellow onion, cut into small pieces
½ cup cold butter, sliced
½ pint heavy cream
kosher salt to taste
fresh ground pepper to taste
paprika to taste
dried parsley flakes to taste

Cut eight squares of foil. Evenly divide all ingredients among the foil squares as follows; potatoes, onion, butter, salt, pepper, paprika, parsley and heavy cream. Making sure to season to your liking. Fold each piece of foil into a packet and place on a cookie sheet. Bake in a 425° F oven for about 30 minutes, or until potatoes are tender. To serve, place a packet on each plate and let everyone open at the table. Enjoy!!